FROM THE PUBLISHER

Through detailed analysis of the manuscripts' visual and textual programmes, and by embedding the books within a rich interpretive context constructed from religious and secular literature, sermons, and a broad range of artistic and historical evidence, the author examines the ways in which the three books of hours mediated the devotional experience of their owners and constructed and confirmed their sense of personal, familial, local and social identity. The study explores the potential functions of illustrated books of hours - as vehicles for penitent self-examination, familial and dynastic commemoration and legitimation, and instruction of one's children - and reveals how the manuscripts' contents and design accommodated these functions. This book offers new insights into the issues of female patronage and book ownership, lay literacy, and the roles and uses of imagery in later medieval religion.

SYNOPSIS